


A y 



rv 



> 



E 263 
.P4 D4 
Copy 1 



THE 

PRIVATE SOLDIER 



ARMy OF THE DlCLARATIi. 



An Address Delivered at the Unveiling of the Monument 

Erected by the State of Pennsylvania to William 

Denning, the Soldier Blacksmith of the Revolu- 

LUTioN, AT Newville, October 6, 1890, 



WILLIAM HENRY EGLE, M. D. 



HARRISBURG, PA. 

HARRISBURG PUBLISHING COMPANY. 
1890. 












/I 



<\' 



n- 



'l'^ 



^t 



THE BLACKSMITH OF THE REVOLUTION. 



Ladies and Gentlemen : "VVe have come together 
this day to take part in paying respect to the memory 
of a war-veteran of the Revolution ; and it well 
becomes us to glance over the history of that struggle 
for Independence and learn somewhat of the services 
of a private soldier of the Pennsylvania Line during 
that heroic contest from 1775 to 1783. 

"When the issue became imminent, in none of the 
British colonies were the people more enthusiastic than 
those of the Province of Pennsylvania. The thunders 
of Lexington had scarcely ceased reverberating along 
the Blue mountains, (North and South,) when the 
pioneers of the wilderness — German and Scotch-Irish 
— gathered from hill-side and valley, resolved, "to do 
and dare," in defense of their homes. Equipped in 
backwoodsmen dress, with their trust}' rifles, they were 
not long hesitating to march to the relief of the beleag- 
ured New England army at Boston, and although the 
distance and difficulties of travel were greater, they 
were the first troops west of the Connecticut river to 
reach the front. And it becomes us to consider who 
were these men, and what led them so prompth' to 
respond to the call of their oppressed countrymen, and 
who, although differing from them in ancestry and in 
faith, yet whose wrongs were theirs and whose rights 
they held in common. They were men whose parents 
had fled from religious and civil persecution in the 
Old World, and who had imbibed through the mater- 
nal breasts, an intense hatred for oppression and 



(4) 

tyranny in whatsoever form they came. They were 
neither rebellious or revolutionary, but patriots through 
principle. They were not illiterate, but men of intel- 
ligence, these private soldiers, and I judge this from 
the fact, that upon the muster-rolls, and in receipts for 
depreciation pay, in existence, it is rarely that any 
one " made his mark," the name being written in 
English or German, as the case might be. They were 
also upright, liberty-loving, and God-fearing. They 
hated priest-craft and king-craft — and cherished the 
homes they made upon the confines of civilization, but 
when the cloud of injustice and intolerance lowered, 
they hurried away from the loved ones, leaving them, 
in numerous instances, to the mercy of the marauding 
Indian savage, to participate in the great up-rising 
against British tyranny. 

Shal^ I rehearse to you, the terrible march through 
the wildernesses of Maine and Canada to Quebec, in 
the early winter of 1775, where, under Arnold, then 
the gallant and brave, afterwards the despicable traitor, 
they suffered from hunger, and cold, and wounds, and 
imprisonment — many of them dying far away from 
the endeared and endearing? 

Shall I repeat to you the pitiful story of Fort Wash- 
ington and Long Island, where against greater numbers 
and heavier guns, the red-coats swept down upon our 
poorly equipped patriots, yet with stout hearts those 
strong arms dealt disastrous strokes, and although 
suffering defeat, their defense of freedom's cause had 
a depressing effect upon the enemy, who suddenly re- 
alized the fact that they were fighting against men 
whose motives were just and purposes pure? 



(5) 

Shall the splendid victories at Trenton and Princeton 
be forgotten — where the men from Pennsylvania vied 
with the bravest of the brave — and by their splendid 
achievements wrote high upon the roll of fame, their 
deeds heroic — which down to remotest time, will tell 
of valor won, and how patriots fought, bled, and died 
for Independence ? 

I shall be pardoned if I mention Saratoga and the 
surrender of Burgoyne, but it has been too frequently 
stated that Pennsylvania was absent upon that particu- 
lar occasion. Our troops were there, nevertheless, and 
under the gallant Morgan, the superior riflemen from 
beyond the Susquehanna did very effective work. 
From Boston to Yorktown, on every well-fought battle- 
field, our good old ancestors took a part. 

Then again, those terrific struggles for mastery at 
Brandywine and Germantown — where the private 
soldier of the Pennsylvania Line, according to that 
young officer from France, whose name is so intimately 
interwoven with the history of our Revolutionary con- 
flict — the intrepid and noble Lafayette — "What might 
have turned a drawn battle into an ignominous and 
disasterous defeat, was averted by the gallantry of the 
Pennsylvania phalanx, to their honor and renown be 
it said." 

Shall I picture to you the cantonment at Valley 
Forge — and that rigorous winter of 1777-78, when the 
little band, chiefly from Pennsylvania, bare-foot and 
half-clad, aye poorly fed, cheered the heart of their 
grand old commander — the great and good Washing- 
ton — by their vigilance, by their patient and uncon- 
plaining performance of the severest duties? Truly it 



(6) 

may be said, that no other army ever existed, which, 
under the circumstances — a populous city in front, and 
a fruitful country to the rear — would have remained 
quiet and subordinate, as did the soldiers at Valley 
Forge. Ah ! the patriotism of those gallant men — their 
hardships and self-denials — have left a halo around 
the name of the American soldier which shall gleam 
the brighter as the ages roll on and on. I consider it 
as one of the richest legacies my paternal ancestor left 
me — to which I can point with rapturous pride — that 
he was a private soldier at Valley Forge! 

What were the results of those self-denials — the vigi- 
lance and alertness of those brave men ? First their 
enthusiastic veneration for their commander, their con- 
fidence in him, and he in them — crushed out forever 
that feeling of jealousy — aye, disloyalty — among the 
officers who were clamorous for the displacement of 
Washington. Secondl}^, They made possible the evacu- 
ation of Philadelphia by Howe's army of masterly in- 
activity, which was by far a greater blow to the enemy 
than any defeat by arms save that perchance at York- 
town. 

Shall I refer to the pursuit of the British in 1778, 
when like the retreat through the Jerseys in 1776, by 
the Patriot Army, the Pennsylvania forces protected 
the rear, and now the advance — their excellent marks- 
men holding the enemy's cavalry at bay, while the 
army of Lord Howe kept moving on to safer quarters 
until they were obliged to make a stand at Monmouth, 
where, had it not been for the disobedience of an officer 
in command, the victory would probably have been 
with the Provincials? As it was, such a lesson was 



(7) 

taught them, that the British never ventured to attack 
the latter upon open ground. 

And here while we allude to these martyr- 
patriots dyed with crimson — let us not forget, that 
there were two women, one at Fort Washington, and 
one at Monmouth, who emulated their husbands in 
heroism and patriotic valor. I refer to Margaret Cor- 
bin and Mary McCauley. These women accompanied 
their husbands to the army, as many others did. In 
those days, the washing and cooking were chiefly done 
by women whose husbands were private soldiers in the 
war. Margaret Corbin was from the Cumberland Val- 
ley, and was with her husband who was in one of the 
companies attached to Col. Magaw's Battalion of the 
Line. It was she, who, before the surrender at Fort 
Washington, when her husband fell seriously wounded, 
took his place at the gun and fired the last shot at the 
enemy. Lossing, who confounds her with " Moll 
Pitcher," says what is not true of either. Margaret 
Corbin after her release went to Westmoreland county, 
where she lived many years enjoying the respect of 
her neighbors and friends — the State of Pennsylvania 
acknowledging her valiant services in the Revolution, 
by granting her an annuity which enabled her to live 
comfortably in her declining years. 

As to the heroine of Monmouth, Molly McCauley, or 
" Moll Pitcher," as she was commonly called, the story 
of her life is so fully known to the people of this Valley 
that I shall only make brief reference. You have all 
heard how, when at the battle of Monmouth, her hus- 
band, John Hay, a bombardier in Procter's artillery, 
fell at his post, she dropped her bucket in which she 



(8) 

carried water to the men — hence the soubriquet " Moll 
Pitcher " — seized the rammer, avowing that she would 
fill his place and avenge his death. She performed the 
duty with such skill and courage, that it attracted the 
attention of all who saw her, and upon the morrow, 
when the little army was in a safe position, she was 
presented to Washington, who commended her for her 
bravery. Not only by Congress, but by her State was 
she provided for in her old age. Her remains rest in 
the quiet graveyard at Carlisle, but the heroic deeds 
performed by the simple-minded but lion-hearted 
" Moll Pitcher" will live, when the champions of other 
wars and other times shall have been forgotten. It is 
M^ell to recall these historic facts, and I do it with the 
greater pleasure, because it gives me the opportunity 
to rescue their names from the reproach and obloquy 
cast upon them by the sensational and slip-shod his- 
torians of to-day. All honor to Margaret Corbin and 
Mary McCauley ! 

After eight years of severity and struggle, of self- 
denial and suffering, the conflict for freedom ended, — 
the victory at Yorktown virtually terminating the war 
on the part of the British soldiery. Peace brought 
with it the endearments of home, the enjoyment of con- 
stitutional liberty unequalled in the world's history, 
and the blessings of fruitful lands. And yet, the men 
whose lives had been exposed during that eventful era 
to all the vicissitudes of war, returned illy prepared to 
again encounter the trials and turmoils of business or 
labor. The greater portion were broken down in 
health — and others with maimed and torn limbs drag- 
ged themselves through the world homeless and friend- 



(y) 

less, depending entirely upon the beggar!}^ pittance of 
a mean pension, the best perchance the young govern- 
ment could afford — but far from being a reward for the 
services performed in accomplishing independence. It 
has been wondered why, that from the close of the Re- 
volution, for several decades, most of the inns and 
taverns were kept by the soldiers of that war. Then 
the keeping of an ordinar}^ was considered an hon- 
orable employment, and, incapable of manual pursuits, 
this vocation suited them. It was there, too, that on 
Freedom's natal day these heroes annually gathered 
to recount the incidents of the war, and if they did 
occasionally get a little full of old rye in remembrance 
of " auld lang syne," we cannot blame them. They 
lived in another age, and in another atmosphere than 
we. Some of my lady friends may not like to hear it, 
but it is nevertheless true, that many of the Revolu- 
tionary ancestors of the present leading people kept a 
tavern in the olden time, and yet this is to their credit, 
not otherwise. 

I now come to speak of the events which to-day have 
called us together — for what purpose, and in whose 
honor. 

When hostilities began, with the exception of the 
trusted rifle of the pioneer, most of the arms were in 
possession of the troops and' tlie civil officers of the 
crown of Great Britain. For a supply of small arms 
there was little difficulty in securing. Among the 
German inhabitants of Pennsylvania, there were many 
whose trade of gunsmith had been in the settlements a 
lucrative and busy occupation — and so when the de- 
mand came, these men by direction of the Congress 



(10) 

■established large manufactories at Allentown, Reading, 
Lebanon, Hummelstown, Middletown, Lancaster, and 
other points in Pennsylvania, while men qualified as 
artificers, were excused from other military service, 
and sent where their skilled labor was required. If, 
therefore, the Germans of Pennsylvania were tardy in 
enlisting for the war, they were industrious and inde- 
fatigable in the making of arms and ammunition — and 
unstinted in the furnishing of food and blankets to the 
Army of the Declaration. To them there is gratitude 
due — and we should not be slow in acknowledging it. 

In the matter of large or field guns, the case was 
different. There were numerous furnaces and forges 
of iron in the colonies, but few experiments had been 
made except with cast-iron — and these were dangerous 
from overcharging. At the outset, companies of artil- 
lery artificers were enlisted, and to them were commit- 
ted the forging of arms and the preparation of weapons 
for defense. Conspicuous among these was Col. Jedu- 
than Baldwin's regiment of the Continental Line. Of 
this command, the New Jersey company of Captain 
Jeremiah Bruen, was stationed at Mount Holly, that 
State, where iron- works had been established for years. 
In this company was William Denning, a blacksmith, 
yet a skilled mechanician, and whose worthy deeds in 
that war suggested the erection of this monument to 
his memory. Little is known of his history, save that 
he volunteered early in the contest for liberty, and was 
at Mount Holly, until just prior to the occupation of 
Philadelphia by the British, when by order of the 
Congress all the artificers were ordered to Washington- 
burg, (afterwards the United States Barracks,) near 



(11) 

Carlisle, where their work was resumed Here William 
Denning was transferred to Captain Worsley Emes^ 
company of the Pennsylvania Line, and in recognition 
of his services in connection therewith, was pensioned 
by the State and National Governments. A skilled 
workman he undoubtedly was, and cannon manufac- 
tured under his supervision were used not only during 
the Revolution, but in the War of 1812-14, although 
greater facilities enabled the making of better gun& 
than those so rudely constructed during the years 
1776 and 1777. It is more than probable that some of 
these were forged at Middlesex, Cumberland county, 
this State, but the Mount Holly mentioned in all refer- 
ences, was undoubtedly Mount Holly, New Jersey. 
Be that as it may, William Denning, by his ingenuity 
and skill in iron-work, deserves this monument. His 
is the record of a patriot, and an expert craftsman. 
He passed most of the days of his long life in this- 
locality, and died here on the 19th of December, 1830, 
in his ninety-fourth year. Verily an extended life — 
but one of honor and usefulness. He saw the country, 
when much of it was an untrodden wilderness ; — He 
beheld the gleaming of the British guns, as the Cross 
of St. George replaced the Lilies of France on our 
Western borders ; — he heard the roll of the drums 
which aroused the land to deeds of valor in freedom's 
cause ; — He witnessed the descent of the Dove of Peace 
upon a land disenthralled — redeemed — the home of a 
liberty-loving and God-fearing people. And this pan- 
orama of the doings of nearly a century passed before 
him. Yonder granite monolith, surmounted by a 
representation of a wrought iron cannon, is the first 



(12) 

monument erected by any State of the Union to record 
the deeds of a private soldier of the Army of Independ- 
ence, and we are proud of the fact. 

I trust that what has been here done, will teach the 
youth of the State lessons of patriotism, that it will 
firmly instil into them the principles of constitutional 
liberty, and lead them to honor and venerate the 
achievements of the heroes of those dark and trying 
hours in our history as a people. If these but follow, 
then will this monument serve a nobler and a grander 
purpose than the mere marking the resting place of a 
soldier of the Revolution. 

William Denning was one of the founders of the Re- 
public, as were all the men who fought upon the side 
of Independence; just as much so as those who in the 
councils of the nation loomed up above their fellows — 
just as much so as those to whom monuments have 
been reared all over our country to perpetuate to futu- 
rity the virtues and braver^^ of an officer of the Revolu- 
tion — ;just as much so as the few whom historians have 
vaunted into fame and glory by disparaging the many 
who were good and true, loyal and patriotic. 

If there is any doctrine to be taught by the services 
of this day, it is this, that if our ancestors established 
this Republic through the baptism of blood, then 
ought we to perpetuate the Union, at whatever cost of 
life or property. God grant that the civil strife which 
scourged the land a quarter of a century ago may never 
find its counterpart in the ages following on. But, 
there is need of patriotic resolve, of vigilance, and 
Christian duty in every era ; and if this granite block 
means anything, it tells us of the untiring industry 



m^^ 24 1208 



(13) 

which goes rewarded, of self-sacrifice to the call of 
one's fatherland which accomplishes the prosperity of 
nations and the success of peoples, and above all, that 
loyalty to country and to God is the supreme aim and 
object of every citizen. Let us not forget, as we turn 
away from the ceremonies of this hour, that valor and 
industry go hand in hand ; and these characteristics 
entered largely in the make-up of him, whose remains 
rest in this charming God's acre — William Denning, 
the Soldier-Artificer of the Revolution ! 



LIBRt^RY OF CONGRESS 



eil 698 850 1 



i. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




011 698 850 1 



pennulipe* 



